My life is fairly crazy right now, finishing up at work before the holidays and shopping for said holidays. But in all that craziness, I managed to feed my soundtrack habit. The game, Gears of War 2, just came out this year and on the weekend after Thanksgiving, Gamespot had a 2 for 1 sale so I picked up the original Gears of War. Man, is this game ever fun. Lots of shooter action, gore, and what is more genius than killing bugs, the bane of my existence. With the release of Gears of War 2 came the release of its score by one of my favorites, Steve Jablonsky. He came onto my scene with his score to Steamboy, a better than expected anime movie and score. He is recently known for his score to Transformers and is signed on for the sequel. I find it lovely when some of these composers delve into other mediums. Giacchino comes to mind scoring television, animated features, and games. Jablonsky's score to GOW2 is excellent but I also picked up the score to the original by Kevin Reipl and it also has some wonderful tracks, "Jacinto Prison" being one of them. I picked up a few other game scores, Too Human by Steve Henifin which is haunting and Mass Effect by Jack Wall and Sam Hulick. I hear Myst 3 in Wall's Mass Effect so it was worth it in my mind. It is going to be a good holiday.
Every time a new Pixar film is released, I say to myself that it will not be as impressive and charming than that of the previous film. I said it at Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles and with each, I was pleasantily mistaken. Note that I did not mention Cars because I did not like it very much. Well, I did not even go see Wall-E in the theatre. It takes a force of nature to make me go to the theatre these days. So I was happy when it showed up in my mailbox the week it was released on DVD. Again, I am so glad I was mistaken. What an utterly enchanting film. I love how the first 20 minutes not a word was spoken (except in song of course). I fell in love with him and this simple yet effective film. Thank goodness I keep being wrong.
saw an orchid vendor. She told me that lack of water and non direct bright light is essential to keeping the orchid alive and well. She said that since I get direct morning sun, I could come home from work and put it outside. It would eat up all that light and I would only have to water it maybe once every two weeks. Well, the yellow green one drew me. It still needs a pot and a stand but for now Elora, as I have named it, has a new home.
Austin has two major music festivals, though there are several smaller ones in and around the Austin area. South by Southwest (SXSW) , which is also a film and music festival, is held in March and The Austin City Limits (ACL) is held in September. The ACL is a full blown music festival spanning a motley of music types, over 130 bands on eight stages across Zilker Park and drawing 65,000 people. So why would I, resistant to loud music, the heat, and crowds of people attend this event? Well one should always try new things and this, especially, should be experienced. Also, I live very close to the event itself now and taking the shuttle was too easy to pass up.
Well, it was hot and very dusty as we have not had rain in a while. And sometimes there were so many people that we could not move. But since I had prepared both physically and mentally while taking advantage of the shady areas of the festival, I was not miserable and I did not even get burned. Highlights of the festival for me were Swell Season, Raconteurs, Blues Traveler, and a new favorite Belleville Outfit. The locale was the best part, a scenic view of the city and Barton Springs just across the street. My trusty wrist band getting me in and out with no problem. Something signicant about this festival was the amount of effort into being green. There were recycle bins everywhere there were garbage bins for those necessary bottles of water. They encouraged others to collect recyclables and gave prizes for full bags. All the vendors were encouraged to sell food which did not require utensils and utilized biodegradable or recyclable containers. The food was fantastic, a choice from the popular local restaurants rather than just burgers or pizza, though of that it was good too since it was all local. It was all very impressive.
I am not saying I am going to do this every year and having just returned from another trip, my exhaustion level was pretty much at a peak. But having done it once and really enjoyed myself and the music is enough to appreciate it and seriously consider another offer of a three day ticket.
It happens every year. I know the entire country, with the exception of the Northwest, is under a heat wave and it is only June. But down here we have been dealing with it since the beginning of May and when the 10 day forecast is 97°F or higher and three sequential days hitting 102°F, my head explodes. We will not get any release probably until October.
How fun is the summer of even years? While the USA is befuddled with basketball rehashes and political questions, Europe goes to bat. There is nothing like a cup to bring football lovers to their feet. For twenty days, Europe and the world watches and waits to see who makes it to the end. The official site is quite good with widgets to add to iGoogle and a custom page for anyone who signs up for a free account. Well done, UEFA.
In learning a language it is necessary to have both written and audial exercises. To practice my French, I have been listening to Harry Potter and some podcasts on the web. As much as I love Harry, I have been absorbed in his story for ten years now. And the podcasts, while interesting, just do not keep me that interested.
My my, Naruto Shippūden is a treasure to behold. Not only a creative phenomenon but a classy one at that. The first episode is so amazing, Naruto and team frantically searching for Sasuke only to find he is way more powerful and just as resigned to his future as ever. Then we learn that is a flash forward. It takes 50 episodes to reach that moment, 50 fantastic episodes full of action, treason and more Naruto determination. He has come such a long way and in episode 51 when he finally finds Sasuke, he is treated like dirt by the one person he most wants to change. Sasuke is impressive and cold, bent on killing his brother and not caring one iota that Naruto and Sakura have spent the past three years looking for him. It was incredibly heart breaking. In the end, Sasuke left and Naruto collapses, an overwhelming grief stricken expression on his face, crying, claiming that he failed yet again to bring Sasuke back and that he is weak. A tear jerker of an episode and represents the calibre of anime that this show has become. I laugh at the dramatic moments, those slow moving camera movements that takes 10 minutes just to pan up to the face of the character you have been waiting to see, the cuts back and forth of the faces and his impact but in fact, I relish every second. My heart stutters with anticipation because it gets better and better.
Of late, my Netflix choices have been bitter disappointments. So I moved a few of the higher rated ones to the top and was pleasantly surprised by this amazingly beautiful and simple film. A musical, technically and in the truest sense, it revolves around an Irish street musician who meets, writes, plays, and records with a Czech immigrant street urchin. The songs were written by the actors who had collaborated briefly before the film. The scenes are long and shot without cuts and the one song where she (the characters are unnamed) just walks home singing her lyrics to his music was beyond perfect. There is nothing more brilliant that being surprised by a movie. because it happens so little these days. I have since bought both the DVD and the soundtrack. Make sure it is added to your list.
"Bleach" is back and my favorite episode aired on adult swim last Saturday. Ichigo appears in all his glory to save Rukia only to have the one of the best face offs in any anime with the ever stoic Byakuya Kuchiki. Oh, and they play the song. Ichigo is so bad ass in these next few episodes having attained bankai , his unforeseen cape bilowing and weilding his zanpakutō over head like a toy. I am eager to watch them again with English dub to revel in the beautiful animation and fantastic twists.
Well it happened. Summer has hit Texas. Today reached 95 degrees and I managed to resist turning on the AC. I am making note of the date so come October I can tell you how long summer really was.
I came home, exhausted from sickness and playing catch up all week to find a classic on Turner Classic Movies. 12 Angry Men was on my must see movie list and now that I have finally watched it I find it difficult to explain my amazed impression. A clean, simple, black and white film centering on 12 men in a room debating the innocence or guilt of one boy. The performances were natural, each man getting up and moving around, the nervous energy waifing off the screen. Fonda used his steely eyed grace to try and convince the men but only convinced me that there was no one better chosen for the role. The weather was its own character moving from sweaty tension to a release of rain. They say they don't make them like they used to and this is the one that fits that rule. A character piece, and simple plot, and yet a winner in every respect. Thank goodness I can scratch it off my list but it is a proud moment that I have.
I do not know Marhane Satrapi, the Iranian born, French educated graphic novelist and children's author. Her work looks amazing though and this film has already won several film awards including being nominated for the Golden Palm at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. It opened Christmas day in the US with limited screenings. So far, I have not heard whether it will expand but it is on my Netflix list already. Make sure you at least watch the trailer.
